The invention provided is designed to alleviate problems related to the incorrect positioning of the leg and foot of a user while driving a recreational vehicle or similar vehicle. A recreational vehicle, commonly referred to as motor home or by its acronym RV, is a van or utility vehicle used for recreational purposes, such as camping, and such vehicles are often equipped with living facilities.
The type of recreational vehicle described above is typically much larger in overall dimensions and weight and provides a greater clearance between the bottom of the chassis of the vehicle and the ground than that of a typical passenger vehicle. The larger dimensions of the recreational vehicle are necessary to accommodate the many features and facilities that are often present, and to allow persons within to freely move about the cabin area in a more upright standing position. The increased ground clearance is caused by greater resistance provided by a stiffer suspension system providing for travel in off-road areas, for example, that contain obstacles on or protruding from the ground that may otherwise prohibit a vehicle with lower ground clearance to safely pass. The stiffer suspension system is also necessary for bearing the additional weight of a large vehicle of the type described above.
The type of vehicle described above also typically has an accelerator pedal and brake pedal mounted pivotally to the floor in front of the driver's seat and in a forward position close to the firewall. The pedals are connected by various means to apparatus extending beyond the firewall and connected to other apparatus for the purpose of manually operating the accelerator and braking functions of the vehicle. The vehicle described also typically has a seat mounted to the floor of the vehicle in a position that allows the driver, when seated forward, to obtain forward and side views of the areas inside and outside the vehicle, and to actuate the steering wheel and accelerator and brake pedals as well as other controls necessary for operating the vehicle.
The seat upon which the driver sits when in such a vehicle is typically higher in dimensions, and often mounted to the floor in a position closer to the front firewall and accelerator and brake pedals of the vehicle than might be expected in a regular passenger vehicle. The forward mounting position of the seat is necessary to provide the seated driver a position close enough to the windshield to allow an adequate view over the dashboard, through the windshield and down to the ground or pavement outside the vehicle. A forward mounting position of the seat as described above is typical in such a vehicle with greater ground clearance and overall dimensions.
One problem with a forward mounting position of a driver's seat as described above is that the position the foot must assume when placed and held upon the accelerator or brake pedal by the seated driver of the vehicle. For example, the close proximity of the seat to the pedals in such a vehicle causes the seated driver, while driving the vehicle, to hold the foot at an acute angle in order to properly place it on the accelerator pedal and maintain best leverage. Holding the foot at such an angle for an extended period of time causes difficult strain on certain muscles of the foot and leg, resulting in fatigue and adversely effecting the safe operation of the vehicle. Also, the heel of the driver's foot, being held at such an acute angle for an extended time, will tend to slide back along the floor away from the pedal as a natural way of relieving the acute angle and fatigue, resulting in the foot being in a position that does not allow the optimum leverage point when resting on the pedal, therefore causing a potentially hazardous condition.
What is clearly needed is a method and apparatus that prevents the heel from sliding back, and also relieves the acute angle at which the foot is held, and the resulting muscle fatigue, when a driver while driving a recreational or similar large vehicle as previously described places the heel of the foot on the floor and the ball of the foot on a pedal as in the conventional manner.